Sig P238 Problems

[Delkancott]

Did some pumpkin shooting today and while it was mostly rimfire, I tried to use my Sig P238 with some new Winchester 380 Auto ammo I picked up yesterday. I noticed when I bought the rounds that they were flat nosed instead of the typical FMJ bullet shape. I didn't think it would cause malfunctions, but in just two shots I had a failure to eject and then a failure to feed. Is this style bullet common? Should I have kept shooting? I didn't because I didn't want to risk damaging the gun and it was the only rounds I had for it aside from self defense rounds.

Some crappy pics. The far right round is a Remington.

 

[Pistolay]

Actually yes, round nose flat point is very common, including Speer Lawman which is my range ammo.

 

[UNSUB]

There's a couple of reasons for the cycling issue. I don't know you or you or your experience level so please dont be offended. Could be the ammo (elaborate, grain what kind of winchester?). You could have been soft handing/weak/limp wristing it. When do you clean the gun last? Did you break the gun down?

Sent from my SM-G928P using Tapatalk

 

[slap shot]

buy a glock

 

[Retired-LEO]

The 380 can be a finicky round.

For instance most 380 pistols are not overly reliable with cheap bulk target ammo

i.e. PMC, Tula Wolf and so on.

I can't say its definitely the ammo because it could be many factors:

Such as, but not limited too: The pistol is not properly broken in. (common in many Sig pistols)
The pistol is not properly cleaned and lubricated.
True you might have limp wristed it.

And NO the ammo will not hurt your pistol.

I prefer to mainly practice with cheap, bulk target ammo; it teaches the shooter how to deal with malfunctions

and with the reduced cost of the ammo it allows you to buy more to practice, practice, practice.......

I DO find that most pocket 380's run GREAT with higher end "Carry Ammunition"

Which is what matters when YOU carry it!

 

[yanici]

My 238 runs reliably with Blazer Brass, Rem. UMC, Fiocchi. It runs great with Hydra-Shock hollow points but has trouble feeding Speer Gold Dot hollows.

 

[92G]

for me, winchester white box has been one of the lesser performing brass cased ammo's out there. the G42 eats it up it does anything even remotely shaped like a 380 acp. for any other 380 pistol i would try some other brands of brass FMJ before coming to any conclusions. in terms of specifically the WWB 380 flat nose bullet, neither the walther PPK nor sig P232 fed it well. the bullet would often get stuck on the ramp. granted these are both blowback designs whereas the P238 is a locked breech.

for brass 380 FMJ ammo, I find the Sig elite ammo is probably the best performance and value. the remington UMC has been solid as well. hold off any conclusions based on the WWB stuff.

 

[Delkancott]

Thanks for the replies. I have probably 100 rounds through the gun with no malfunctions, but they were either Hornady Critical Defense or Remington FMJ. I certainly could have limp wristed it. I will get back out there this week and shoot a few different types and see what's happening. I will also clean and lube it prior to the next firing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Delkancott]

I just wanted to update this. I went out at lunch today and shot about two dozen rounds through. The Remington had zero issues, and the Winchester flat nosed was better, but two times it failed to feed when releasing the slide from slide lock after inserting the magazine. This also happened today with the Hornady Critical Defense rounds. It did cycle fine when shooting, just had problems with first chambering the rounds.

I will give it a thorough cleaning tonight.

 

[Sf Becket]

Winchester white box works well in all of my 380 pistols